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Which base in the Cotswolds

Hubby and I are planning on spending 4 days visiting the Cotswolds in early July. We would like suggestions for which village to stay in as a base. We plan on hiring a car for our travels from London. I have read much on this forum but am still confused.

We prefer to base ourselves in a town with a choice of eating places and some shops, so possibly a bit more "commercial" . I know some Fodorites suggest to stay in quieter villages, but we prefer to walk around in the evenings, rather than drive to dinner. We will use the days for walking and driving.

We are 63 and 65, do not have an aversion to seeing other tourists (after all we are also tourists) and would like to know which place to stay in. Also are we better off just choosing one village as our base or moving between towns. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

With only 4 days and with a car, I'd expect that you'll be driving around the area and can just as well have dinner before returning to your accommodation some of those evenings. I mention it because there are some very nice places to stay that may not be in towns of any size but would still be lovely places to stay. I wouldn't eliminate them from consideration because you want to be walking distance to pubs or restaurants. When I travel on foot, it is important unless my B&B will feed me. But in July it'll be light late and much less important, as I see it anyway.

I like Broadway as did my two late wives, for the very reasons you gave. It is certainly conducive to taking a stroll, easy in and out to visit many Cotswold villages, and there are enough choices for dining right there. No need for night driving.

Depending on your budget, we liked a comfortable B and B in the heart of the small town called "Small Talk"..delightful owners, very nice full breakast, comfortable rooms and bath rooms...and its own bar.
I think we paid 50 pounds more or less.

Parking on the premises. It's across the street from the Broadway Hotel which offers a very nice Jockey's pub with excellent pub meals...down the street is a superb Indian place...all very reasonable. A wonderful pastry/coffee shop is across the street (Tisane's). Ice cream and snacks are available in a little shop connected to the b and b. What more can you ask?

We loved the easy not-too-steep hill up to the Broadway Tower.

The pics I will post show all. Broadway is a short drive to Chipping Campden.

There is a real old time pub in Great Walford, less than half hour from Broadway and 5-10 minutes from Moreton in Marsh...outstanding place we discovered in 1980 and returned this trip to find that it hasn't changed in all these years...but a new chef has taken the reins and the menu is still superb. Prices have gone upward of course..but atill within reason.

The Slaughters and Bourton on the Water are also close enough. I highly recommend the Mill Dene Gardens across the highway from Broadway...small, no crowds, charming...

The main problem w/ staying in a rural B&B or tiny village is you can't drink w/ dinner before driving 'home'. If you don't drink - then you can stay anyplace at all. But to safely have a variety of dining options you probably do need to stay in a town or large village. Burford would be my first choice, but there are several others that would work.

janisj, funny my thoughts were exactly the same. I've come across some lovely B&B's but without restaurants. I like having a couple of glasses of wine with my meal but refuse to drive afterwards. Again, if you don't drink, it's not a problem.

Irene...I'm a rank amateur..but in the colorful Cotswolds, a baby can shoot decent pics. That's why I have very rarely written TR's...blah, blah, blah...

I feel strongly that familiarization pics are worth those 1,000 words. But no, dear, I'm just barely a journeymen photog// Thank you for the compliment. In addition to my digitals since 2003, I have been scanning literally 1000's of pics from my pre-digital days going way back ...and this allows you edit a fair picture and make it appear much sharper. It was invented for travelers like me!!

On previous trips to the Cotswolds we took the train from London to Oxford and then picked up our rental car which proved a bit easier than driving out of London.

Both trips we stayed at Stow Lodge in Stow-on-the-Wold. We really liked this hotel and the town itself. There are some nice little shops and some good pubs in town. However, I do agree that Burford may have more to offer as it is a larger town.

Yes, generally easier than driving out of London. However - for any first timers collecting a car at LHR can be even easier than in Oxford. Depends on which Oxford location as driving in the city can be a hassle. The Hertz remote location up off the Woodstock Road is a brilliant place to start out from. In the middle of Oxford - not so much. Getting a car at LHR has one immediately on the motorway (no driving out of London involved) which is usually easier to get used to the "wrong side of the car"/"wrong side of the road" than in the middle of a congested city like Oxford.

Hetz's only pickup point around Oxford these days is near the station: it involves an immediate exit onto a rather nasty road, which I wouldn't want to be my first experience of driving on the proper side.

To save anyone searching: there's a very determined lobby trying to ensure Oxford airport doesn't get any scheduled services. Strictly for paparazzi-dodging celebs in private jets is how most people round here want it to stay.

Thanks so much to everyone for your great suggestions. I have booked Burford House for 4 nights.

Now to my next question. Do we need a car in Bath (we are driving to Bath for 2 nights after the Cotswolds), or should we return the car as soon as we reach Bath, and find another way to get to Heathrow for our return journey? I don't want to be paying for a car for 2 days if it is only sitting in a car park.

I am also a little nervous of driving from Bath into Heathrow on the day of our departure,in case bad traffic, getting lost etc create extra stress.

My thinking was that for the money saved on 2 days worth of car hire, we could maybe pay for a car service to take us to Heathrow, or be brave and use public transport. What would you all suggest, remembering that we are in our 60's and want to reduce stress.

>>Do we need a car in Bath (we are driving to Bath for 2 nights after the Cotswolds), or should we return the car as soon as we reach Bath, and find another way to get to Heathrow for our return journey? <<

You don't at all need a car IN Bath. So if you are spending the basically 1.5 days there after leaving the Cotswolds, yes, I'd turn it in. There is a fast, relatively inexpensive National Express coach directly from Bath to LHR so no need to faff about dealing w/ the rental return and shuttle bus at LHR. And ABSOLUTELY no reason to fork over for a car service.